My Secret Vice - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Kuruharan · 05-09-2009, 08:24 AM

I've noticed that a number of people (myself included) have hardback copies of Tolkien's works that they admit they never use and said books normally fulfill the very important job of looking spiffy in the library.

When did Tolkien's works become a prestige item? Have they always been? (I personally don't think so.) Is it a result of the influence of the movies? ("Oh, you've seen the films have you? Well, I've read the books! In fact they are all over there looking pretty and heavy and practially unusable on my shelf! Just think of the agony I went through trying to heft those things about and be impressed with me, o lesser mortal!") Or has it been something more gradual?

New Idea: This relates to the Why Tolkien? thread, but is there something about Tolkien that sort of promotes this kind of gathering and hoarding of obscure lore? We all want to get in touch with our inner Gandalf and have multiple volumes of tomes at our fingertips that are only well understood by a few others, with whom we feel the need to fellowship?

mark12_30 · 05-09-2009, 11:43 AM

Personally, I wanted The Red Book because it was a pretty good approximation of the Red Book of Westmarch.

And then, it needed a matching Hobbit.

TheGreatElvenWarrior · 05-09-2009, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark12_30

Personally, I wanted The Red Book because it was a pretty good approximation of the Red Book of Westmarch.

And then, it needed a matching Hobbit.

Me too. I asked my parents for one a while back... almost two years ago now (wow, have I really been here THAT long?) my father said that I could get one if my room was clean for a year, that's never going to happen!

Kuruharan · 05-09-2009, 02:02 PM

My decision to buy the hardback version of The Legend of Sigurd and Gurdun was entirely based on a desire for durability and the fact that the store only had the hardbacks available.

Thus I could in no way be accused of a desire to flaunt my cultural and intellectual superiority before the troglodytes in my life...really.

By the way, does it count of having multiple copies of the Children of Hurin if one has both the Unfinished Tales and The Children of Hurin since the one essentially contains the other?

Morthoron · 05-09-2009, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

I've noticed that a number of people (myself included) have hardback copies of Tolkien's works that they admit they never use and said books normally fulfill the very important job of looking spiffy in the library.

When did Tolkien's works become a prestige item? Have they always been? (I personally don't think so.) Is it a result of the influence of the movies? ("Oh, you've seen the films have you? Well, I've read the books! In fact they are all over there looking pretty and heavy and practially unusable on my shelf!

Hmmm...Well, I'm a rather avid collector of books (my significant other is rolling her eyes at the understatement), some dating to the late 18th century. I have some very nice editions of Tolkien's work (1st editions, deluxe editions, etc.) that I do not open very often (the acidity of one's fingers and all) because of their intrinsic value (or their future value when I eventually kick the bucket and my children inherit them).

Considering the worth of many editions of Tolkien's work, I would certainly consider the books to be prestige items and classics of their genre (and the movies had only a minimal impact on the skyrocketing cost of Tolkien 1st editions). I also have 19th century editions of Poe, Hugo, Dickens, Sir Walter Scott, etc., spiffily displayed in glass-enclosed cases which I don't read either, but I of course have dog-earred duplicates of each.

mark12_30 · 04-14-2010, 11:13 AM

After lugging a hardbound Statistics textbook back and forth to work (Over Hill and Under Hill) I read these posts with great nostalgia. The Stats book is red... but it is not THE Red Book. And it will be some time (Mid-June) til I can afford to take up The Red Book again. Alas.

My best solace is that the Beechen leaves will shortly unfold.

garm · 04-14-2010, 03:17 PM

I've been collecting books by and about Tolkien for donkey's years now; academic as well as fiction. I don't know how many copies of The Lord of the Rings, nor Hobbits, there are in the collection. Nor Silmarillions. Just lots and lots; mainly UK editions, with a fair smattering of US eds. and even one or two in foreign, which I can't read, but look nice.

It is something of an obsession, I suppose.

starofthedunedain · 04-18-2010, 02:57 PM

It's nice to know I'm not the only one who hoa...collects different covers of Tolkien's works. I have several of the supercopy editions (all three books in one) which are very lovely both in paperback and hardback. I have some a bit older in nice condition from the UK, just a few scuffs and tears, nothing falling out (yet). I have several boxsets, several different versions of the Silmarillion and two versions of the Lost Tales part 1. I also have lovely books like Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien and the Father Christmas Letters which is adorable. I have a postcard book too which features all the artists who illustrated Middle-earth. I have encyclopedias on Middle-earth, books on the movies, books on the artwork and a couple which are really different. It's like they're blank journals, it says a Hobbit's Travel on them and has wonderful illustrations inside. I have a foreign copy of The Two Towers and The Hobbit, and a graphic novel version of the Hobbit and I also collect the audio book versions, nevermind that they're on cassette.

It's nice to know other people have collections, although I don't have anything really special like a first edition.

05-09-2009, 08:24 AM	#1
Kuruharan Regal Dwarven Shade Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: A Remote Dwarven Hold Posts: 3,593	A Question I've noticed that a number of people (myself included) have hardback copies of Tolkien's works that they admit they never use and said books normally fulfill the very important job of looking spiffy in the library. When did Tolkien's works become a prestige item? Have they always been? (I personally don't think so.) Is it a result of the influence of the movies? ("Oh, you've seen the films have you? Well, I've read the books! In fact they are all over there looking pretty and heavy and practially unusable on my shelf! Just think of the agony I went through trying to heft those things about and be impressed with me, o lesser mortal!") Or has it been something more gradual? New Idea: This relates to the Why Tolkien? thread, but is there something about Tolkien that sort of promotes this kind of gathering and hoarding of obscure lore? We all want to get in touch with our inner Gandalf and have multiple volumes of tomes at our fingertips that are only well understood by a few others, with whom we feel the need to fellowship? __________________ ...finding a path that cannot be found, walking a road that cannot be seen, climbing a ladder that was never placed, or reading a paragraph that has no... Last edited by Kuruharan; 05-09-2009 at 09:13 AM. Reason: Had a new thought.

05-09-2009, 11:43 AM	#2
mark12_30 Stormdancer of Doom Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Elvish singing is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars Posts: 4,349	Personally, I wanted The Red Book because it was a pretty good approximation of the Red Book of Westmarch. And then, it needed a matching Hobbit. __________________ ...down to the water to see the elves dance and sing upon the midsummer's eve.

05-09-2009, 02:02 PM	#4
Kuruharan Regal Dwarven Shade Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: A Remote Dwarven Hold Posts: 3,593	Lookit what I just got... My decision to buy the hardback version of The Legend of Sigurd and Gurdun was entirely based on a desire for durability and the fact that the store only had the hardbacks available. Thus I could in no way be accused of a desire to flaunt my cultural and intellectual superiority before the troglodytes in my life...really. By the way, does it count of having multiple copies of the Children of Hurin if one has both the Unfinished Tales and The Children of Hurin since the one essentially contains the other? __________________ ...finding a path that cannot be found, walking a road that cannot be seen, climbing a ladder that was never placed, or reading a paragraph that has no...

04-14-2010, 11:13 AM	#6
mark12_30 Stormdancer of Doom Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Elvish singing is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars Posts: 4,349	After lugging a hardbound Statistics textbook back and forth to work (Over Hill and Under Hill) I read these posts with great nostalgia. The Stats book is red... but it is not THE Red Book. And it will be some time (Mid-June) til I can afford to take up The Red Book again. Alas. My best solace is that the Beechen leaves will shortly unfold. __________________ ...down to the water to see the elves dance and sing upon the midsummer's eve.

04-18-2010, 02:57 PM	#8
starofthedunedain Newly Deceased Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: in a book Posts: 6	So I'm not the only one? ;-) It's nice to know I'm not the only one who hoa...collects different covers of Tolkien's works. I have several of the supercopy editions (all three books in one) which are very lovely both in paperback and hardback. I have some a bit older in nice condition from the UK, just a few scuffs and tears, nothing falling out (yet). I have several boxsets, several different versions of the Silmarillion and two versions of the Lost Tales part 1. I also have lovely books like Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien and the Father Christmas Letters which is adorable. I have a postcard book too which features all the artists who illustrated Middle-earth. I have encyclopedias on Middle-earth, books on the movies, books on the artwork and a couple which are really different. It's like they're blank journals, it says a Hobbit's Travel on them and has wonderful illustrations inside. I have a foreign copy of The Two Towers and The Hobbit, and a graphic novel version of the Hobbit and I also collect the audio book versions, nevermind that they're on cassette. It's nice to know other people have collections, although I don't have anything really special like a first edition. __________________ Burn Baby!

04-14-2010, 03:17 PM	#7
garm Pile O'Bones Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 22	I've been collecting books by and about Tolkien for donkey's years now; academic as well as fiction. I don't know how many copies of The Lord of the Rings, nor Hobbits, there are in the collection. Nor Silmarillions. Just lots and lots; mainly UK editions, with a fair smattering of US eds. and even one or two in foreign, which I can't read, but look nice. It is something of an obsession, I suppose.